Memorable Manitobans: Gordon Wilbert Beard (1920-1972)

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Gordon Wilbert Beard
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Businessman, MLA (1963-1966), MLA (1966-1969), MLA (1969-1972).

Born at Neepawa on 27 September 1920, son of English immigrants Herbert William Beard (c1878-1949) and Mabel Gertrude King (?-?), he moved to Thompson in 1960. He had many business interests in Thompson and the North. Originally elected MLA for Churchill as an Progressive Conservative in the 1962 provincial general election, he was a strong spokesman for the North advocating a separate provincial Department of Northern Affairs. Re-elected in 1966, he grew frustrated with the party’s lack of policy on the North and resigned from the Legislature in early 1969. His seat was filled by Joe Borowski at a by-election. When a general election was held in June 1969, Beard ran as an Independent and was elected. He and wife Mabel “Nanny” ? (1929-2010) had a daughter and a son. He suffered a heart attack and died at Thompson on 12 November 1972.

Sources:

Birth registration [Gordon Wilbert Beard], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

Obituary [Herbert Beard], Winnipeg Free Press, 14 September 1949, page 27.

“Beard dies at 51,” Winnipeg Free Press, 13 November 1972, page 1.

Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.

Obituary [Mabel Beard], Winnipeg Free Press, 18 September 2010.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Oliver Bernuetz (Legislative Library of Manitoba).

Page revised: 18 November 2023

Memorable Manitobans

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